Patrick Norris, who is a senior Electronics Engineering Technology major at Savannah State University and is also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity step team, steps in the lobby of the King-Frazier Student Center Thursday.

Patrick Norris, who is a senior Electronics Engineering Technology major at Savannah State University and is also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity step team, steps in the lobby of the King-Frazier Student Center Thursday.

Patrick Norris, who is a senior Electronics Engineering Technology major at Savannah State University and is also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity step team, steps in the lobby of the King-Frazier Student Center Thursday.

Patrick Norris, who is a senior Electronics Engineering Technology major at Savannah State University and is also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity step team, steps in the lobby of the King-Frazier Student Center Thursday.

Patrick Norris, who is a senior Electronics Engineering Technology major at Savannah State University and is also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity step team, steps in the lobby of the King-Frazier Student Center Thursday.

From left; Chile Manuel, Patrick Norris, A.J. Johnson and Bobby Stewert, all part of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, step in the lobby of the King-Frazier Student Center building at Savannah State University Thursday.

"Stepping," a style of dance typically performed on local college campuses, strolled off the quad and onto movie screens Friday.

In the movie "Stomp the Yard," a troubled teenager from Los Angeles discovers stepping at a black college in Atlanta.

Stepping is a style of dance traditionally performed by black college students in the Greek system, including fraternities and sororities at Savannah State University and Armstrong Atlantic State University.

Patrick Norris, interim president of Delta Eta at Savannah State, a chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., is the step master of the Delta Etas' step team, which means he's in charge of choreographing a 12-15 minute routine for the group to perform at step shows.

A step show is like a big concert, he said. An extravaganza of lights, music and costumes revolves around a theme, such as secret service, aliens and the '70s.

"You have to experience a Greek step show in your life, especially at a historically black college," he said. "It's off the chain."

Norris has to dream up steps simple enough for each team member to master, while mixing in the right amount of creativity and flash to get the crowd going. He's seen some impressive stepping in his day, but nothing compared to what's portrayed in the trailer for "Stomp the Yard."

"I've never seen stepping like that. I understand they had to exaggerate it a bit to get people to see it, but - the dude sliding on his head? Whoa! But I'm going to see it anyway."

"It's a very difficult thing to learn. You have to do so many moves at the same time.

"You have to use all your muscles, and if you're not in shape, you will be sore."

McMillian planned to watch the movie on opening night with her sorority sisters. The brief bit of dancing McMillian saw in the movie trailer looked pretty close to the real thing, she said, except the movie incorporates much more dancing.

The heated competition, however, is 100 percent real.

"If you can't step, you won't get mad respect. And you'll get mad respect in the yard by stepping," she said.